Dash Cameras

[untakenname]

Bought my dad an A119S for fathers day but he complained that the quality is really poor so I borrowed it this afternoon and put it in my car and I agree, it looks a lot worse than my £40 dashcam that's three years old.
For those who have the same model, is this representative of what the quality should be like or do I have a duff one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3EFuKOCVf4

Edited by untakenname on Sunday 30th July 21:25

[Durzel]

Apologies if this has been answered already but.. 103 pages..

Is there any dashcam out there that would work with cabriolets? I guess they all "work" in the sense that the rear camera doesn't have to be mounted on the rear window, but was wondering if there was any recommendation for one either with a front and rear camera built into the single unit (I guess this would give a fairly useless view of the back?), or something else?

[Cupramax]

untakenname said:

Bought my dad an A119S for fathers day but he complained that the quality is really poor so I borrowed it this afternoon and put it in my car and I agree, it looks a lot worse than my £40 dashcam that's three years old.
For those who have the same model, is this representative of what the quality should be like or do I have a duff one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3EFuKOCVf4

Edited by untakenname on Sunday 30th July 21:25

Have you made sure the lens protector film has been removed, I made this mistake with mine. If you have a cpl filter on it that has protector film in both sides too.

[Silverbullet767]

Durzel said:

Apologies if this has been answered already but.. 103 pages..

Is there any dashcam out there that would work with cabriolets? I guess they all "work" in the sense that the rear camera doesn't have to be mounted on the rear window, but was wondering if there was any recommendation for one either with a front and rear camera built into the single unit (I guess this would give a fairly useless view of the back?), or something else?

The Transcend Drivepro 520 does front and back in one unit.

[Durzel]

Silverbullet767 said:

The Transcend Drivepro 520 does front and back in one unit.

Thanks.

[gowmonster]

Durzel said:

Silverbullet767 said:

The Transcend Drivepro 520 does front and back in one unit.

Thanks.

I have the 520 in my boxster, Works well.

[numtumfutunch]

untakenname said:

Bought my dad an A119S for fathers day but he complained that the quality is really poor so I borrowed it this afternoon and put it in my car and I agree, it looks a lot worse than my £40 dashcam that's three years old.
For those who have the same model, is this representative of what the quality should be like or do I have a duff one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3EFuKOCVf4

Edited by untakenname on Sunday 30th July 21:25

Vested interest here as that cam is eventually on my shortlist after resisting the dreaded DC for years

Is it your vid?
Quality looks OK to me, its easy enough to get the reg number from white van man

Have I missed something?

[SwissJonese]

Cupramax said:

Have you made sure the lens protector film has been removed, I made this mistake with mine. If you have a cpl filter on it that has protector film in both sides too.

I've just checked mine and yep still had the protector film on the back of the polarise lense - arggg. Drove through France and Switzerland to near Italian border with it on. The picture quality was still is impressive at 2K even with the protector film on - haha

[untakenname]

Cupramax said:

Have you made sure the lens protector film has been removed, I made this mistake with mine. If you have a cpl filter on it that has protector film in both sides too.

Yep, I made sure the films off, I'm not using it with a cpl filter

numtumfutunch said:

Vested interest here as that cam is eventually on my shortlist after resisting the dreaded DC for years

Is it your vid?
Quality looks OK to me, its easy enough to get the reg number from white van man

Have I missed something?

It's just not sharp at all in comparison with my other dashcam, especially at speed (considering it's meant to be capturing at 60fps)

This is a still from it yesterday (timestamp is wrong due to not using gps mount so it defaults to the date when the last firmware update was).
Look at how blurry the trees on the right are, this is at less than 30mph as well.


Compare this to my 3 year old Dome G90 from Brands a month ago, you can see individual detail in the background even at speed


Both images are straight from VLC using the save image function, I'll try and get some footage of them both running side by side.

Edit: you have to open each image in a new window to see them at the full resolution

Edited by untakenname on Monday 31st July 23:16

[M4cruiser]

I wonder if anyone can help please with this problem on a NextBase 412:-

It works normally on test using the USB cable, or when using the 12v socket lead in the car directly into the camera, but when I attach the camera to the screen mount it displays a flashing yellow "X" in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Is it working? Does anyone know what the X means?

Many thanks,

[bmw320ci]

M4cruiser said:

I wonder if anyone can help please with this problem on a NextBase 412:-

It works normally on test using the USB cable, or when using the 12v socket lead in the car directly into the camera, but when I attach the camera to the screen mount it displays a flashing yellow "X" in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Is it working? Does anyone know what the X means?

Many thanks,

try changing the cable in the car, or use the same USB cable and one of those cheapo 12v usb converters as I had the same thing with my DP220

[gmaz]

M4cruiser said:

I wonder if anyone can help please with this problem on a NextBase 412:-

It works normally on test using the USB cable, or when using the 12v socket lead in the car directly into the camera, but when I attach the camera to the screen mount it displays a flashing yellow "X" in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Is it working? Does anyone know what the X means?

Many thanks,

Are you sure it is an X and not a pic of a satellite? The manual indicates that it is tryingto get a GPS signal - Page 18 - https://www.nextbase.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016...

[TobyLerone]

So, I'd like a dash camera, with a reverse camera functionality.

It also needs to be all but unnoticeable from the outside.

Are there any options which are intergrated into a rear view mirror?

I have used a 200 series Landcruiser with a reverse camera screen in the rear view mirror before, is there a solution like this, bit with a camera in the back of the mirror (facing forward out of the windscreen)?

[anonymous-user]

Are the Motorola mdc100 any good?
2 for £90 in Argos, so easy to return if rubbish I guess, rather than faff about with an internet ssle!
Seem to get pretty good reviews for a basic cam..

[thebigmacmoomin]

Hi all,

Dad & I are after dash cams for our cars. Both will be hard wired into the cars rather than plugged in. The mobile auto electric company we use at work can do this, estimated around £120 for both cars.

Just have a few questions.

Halford's do a hardwire fitting service for £30 if you buy one of their camera's. Is the camera's they offer any good & is the fitting service ok.

Can you have a rear facing camera if you have tinted windows? I did read online somewhere that you can't. Both cars have tinted windows from the factory rather than aftermarket.

Both cars have heated front windscreens. Does this effect the picture quality?

Any recommendations of the best camera out there at the moment?

The only musts are the camera has a screen and can be removed from the screen easily if required (without having to disconnect the cables).

Thanks

Andrew

Edited by thebigmacmoomin on Thursday 24th August 20:48

Edited by thebigmacmoomin on Thursday 24th August 20:50

[a]

I've got a Mobius cam stuck behind my rear-view mirror, mainly because I like how discrete it is. Cable runs through headlining, down A-pillar, under dashboard and into USB socket. Very happy with it overall.

I've got it set to motion-detection mode when power is cut. But the battery doesn't last long enough, barely 10 minutes of filming. I'd like to record for as long as possible once the car is switched off, without wearing down the car's battery.

I've thought of adding a small USB power bank (like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MWU1GGI), so the power bank charges and powers the camera while the ignition is on, and discharges while powering the camera with ignition off. Even a small one will give me plenty of recording time.

But all the ones I know of require you to press a button to start supplying power. Does anyone know of one that just works on its own with no need for user input?

[gmaz]

a said:

I've got a Mobius cam stuck behind my rear-view mirror, mainly because I like how discrete it is. Cable runs through headlining, down A-pillar, under dashboard and into USB socket. Very happy with it overall.

I've got it set to motion-detection mode when power is cut. But the battery doesn't last long enough, barely 10 minutes of filming. I'd like to record for as long as possible once the car is switched off, without wearing down the car's battery.

I've thought of adding a small USB power bank (like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MWU1GGI), so the power bank charges and powers the camera while the ignition is on, and discharges while powering the camera with ignition off. Even a small one will give me plenty of recording time.

But all the ones I know of require you to press a button to start supplying power. Does anyone know of one that just works on its own with no need for user input?

This is a "proper" backup battery supply but at £170 it is not cheap

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2016/5/27/dashcam-bat...

I've just tried my Anker battery pack and that does not require a button push to start charging, but it will not pass through the power to the load (in my case a mobile phone) while it is charging

[S6PNJ]

a said:

I've got a Mobius cam ...... I'd like to record for as long as possible once the car is switched off, without wearing down the car's battery.

The Mobius will use the square root of a gnat's cock of power in comparison to the power available in your car battery. I'd suggest that your car's own alarm system will use more power than the Mobius, so just hard wire it in (or change the power settings) and forget about it.

[gmaz]

S6PNJ said:

a said:

I've got a Mobius cam ...... I'd like to record for as long as possible once the car is switched off, without wearing down the car's battery.

The Mobius will use the square root of a gnat's cock of power in comparison to the power available in your car battery. I'd suggest that your car's own alarm system will use more power than the Mobius, so just hard wire it in (or change the power settings) and forget about it.

Or get a voltage monitoring power supply that cuts off if the battery voltage gets below 12v

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hardwiring-CELL-POWER-Dis...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/EBORN-Micro-USB-Hard-Wire...

Its also useful to have a dashcam that has a parking mode if you're going to leave it connected to power.

[triple5]

thebigmacmoomin said:

Can you have a rear facing camera if you have tinted windows? I did read online somewhere that you can't. Both cars have tinted windows from the factory rather than aftermarket.


Andrew

If you mean a rear facing camera mounted on the rear window which is tinted, then yes no problem with my rear window factory tint. (Thinkware F750).